US senators slam Trump’s Russia-Ukraine peace plan as rewarding aggression
U.S. senators critical of President Donald Trump’s approach to ending the war between Russia and Ukraine said Saturday that the peace plan he is pushing kyiv to accept would only reward Moscow for its aggression and send a message to other leaders who have threatened their neighbors.
The 28-point peace plan was developed by the Trump administration and the Kremlin without Ukraine’s participation. He acquiesces to many Russian demands that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has categorically rejected dozens of times, including ceding large portions of territory. Trump says he wants Ukraine to agree to the plan by the end of next week.
The senators’ opposition to the plan follows criticism from other U.S. lawmakers, including some Republicans, none of whom have the power to block it. The senators, who spoke at an international conference on security in Canada, included a Democrat, an independent and a Republican who is not planning to run again next year.
“It rewards aggression. It’s pure and simple. There is no ethical, legal, moral or political justification for Russia to claim eastern Ukraine,” independent Maine Sen. Angus King said during a panel discussion at the International Security Forum in Halifax, Canada.
King, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, compared the proposal to the Munich Pact between British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler in 1938, a historic failed act of appeasement.
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said Sen. Mitch McConnell, the former Senate Republican leader, did not go far enough in his criticism of the bill. McConnell said in a statement Friday that “if administration officials are more concerned with appeasing Putin than ensuring real peace, then the president should find new advisers.”
“We shouldn’t do anything that makes (Putin) feel like he’s won here. Honestly, I think what Mitch said fell short of what should be said,” Tillis said. Tillis announced earlier this year that he would not run again shortly after clashing with the Trump administration over his spending and tax agenda.
Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called it an “outrage.”
Putin welcomed the proposal Friday evening, saying it “could form the basis of a final peace deal” if the United States can convince Ukraine and its European allies.
Zelensky, in his speech, did not reject the plan outright, but insisted on fair treatment while pledging to “work calmly” with Washington and other partners in what he called “truly one of the most difficult moments in our history.”
Since its 17th year, approximately 300 people have gathered each year at the Halifax International Security Forum, held at the Westin Hotel in Halifax. The forum attracts military officials, U.S. senators, diplomats and academics, but this year the Trump administration suspended the participation of U.S. defense officials in events hosted by think tanks, including the Halifax International Security Forum.
A large number of U.S. senators made the trip this year in part because of strained relations between Canada and the United States. Trump has alienated America’s neighbor with his trade war and his insistence that Canada become the 51st US state. Many Canadians now refuse to travel to the United States, and border states, like Shaheen’s New Hampshire, are seeing a dramatic decline in tourism.
“There is real concern about this tension. That’s one of the reasons why there is such a large delegation here,” Shaheen said. “I will continue to oppose what the president is doing on tariffs and his comments because they are not only damaging to Canada and our relationship, but I think they are damaging globally. They demonstrate a lack of respect for sovereign nations.”
